The growl came from the left.
Liora spun toward the sound, dagger ready. The trees shifted in the wind, shadows swaying, but she knew the scent — wild and sharp, threaded with hunger. A rogue.
Aric stepped in front of her before she could move. "Stay behind me."
She bristled. "I can fight."
"I know. But this one's mine."
The snow crunched as something massive moved between the trees, too fast for human eyes. Then it broke through the shadows — a wolf, thick with muscle, its fur mottled with black and ash. Its eyes burned gold.
It snarled, teeth bared, steam curling from its jaws.
Aric moved like the cold had no hold on him, drawing his blade with a sound that seemed to slice the night. The silver edge caught the moonlight, gleaming dangerously.
The wolf lunged.
Steel met fur, a flash of movement too quick to follow. Liora darted sideways, looking for an opening — but the pull of the curse burned in her veins, distracting her, making her chest tighten every time Aric's heartbeat thundered in her ears.
The wolf slammed into him, and they crashed into the snow. Aric rolled, blade flashing, and the beast howled in pain.
It turned toward Liora.
She didn't think. She moved. Her dagger drove deep into the wolf's side, the silver sizzle hissing into the air. The animal twisted, catching her shoulder with its claws before collapsing into the snow, its breath a fading cloud.
Silence fell again, broken only by the sharp rhythm of her breathing.
Aric rose, wiping his blade on the snow. His gaze swept over her, lingering on the blood at her sleeve. "You're hurt."
"It's nothing." She straightened, wincing only slightly. "You're welcome, by the way."
A flicker of something — amusement? relief? — touched his expression before he masked it. "You fight well."
She met his eyes, her pulse still racing from more than just the fight. "You were going to take it alone. Why?"
"Because if something killed you," he said quietly, "the curse would take me too. And I'm not ready to die."
The words should have sounded cold. Practical. But they didn't. And that, more than the wolf's claws, was what made her heart ache.